4: Life Science

4.1: Understand the role of the cell and cellular processes.

4.1.PO 2: Compare the form and function of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and their cellular components.

Cell Structure
Paramecium Homeostasis
RNA and Protein Synthesis

4.1.PO 3: Explain the importance of water to cells.

Paramecium Homeostasis

4.1.PO 4: Analyze mechanisms of transport of materials (e.g., water, ions, macromolecules) into and out of cells:

4.1.PO 4.a: passive transport

Osmosis
Paramecium Homeostasis

4.1.PO 4.b: active transport

Osmosis
Paramecium Homeostasis

4.1.PO 5: Describe the purposes and processes of cellular reproduction.

Cell Division

4.2: Understand the molecular basis of heredity and resulting genetic diversity.

4.2.PO 1: Analyze the relationships among nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), genes, and chromosomes.

Human Karyotyping

4.3: Analyze the relationships among various organisms and their environment.

4.3.PO 1: Identify the relationships among organisms within populations, communities, ecosystems, and biomes.

Food Chain

4.3.PO 3: Assess how the size and the rate of growth of a population are determined by birth rate, death rate, immigration, emigration, and carrying capacity of the environment.

Food Chain
Rabbit Population by Season

4.4: Understand the scientific principles and processes involved in biological evolution.

4.4.PO 1: Identify the following components of natural selection, which can lead to speciation:

4.4.PO 1.b: genetic variability and inheritance of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

4.4.PO 1.c: finite supply of resources required for life

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Microevolution
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

4.4.PO 1.d: selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and produce offspring

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Microevolution
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

4.4.PO 2: Explain how genotypic and phenotypic variation can result in adaptations that influence an organism’s success in an environment.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

4.4.PO 3: Describe how the continuing operation of natural selection underlies a population’s ability to adapt to changes in the environment and leads to biodiversity and the origin of new species.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

4.4.PO 4: Predict how a change in an environmental factor (e.g., rainfall, habitat loss, non-native species) can affect the number and diversity of species in an ecosystem.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Food Chain
Rabbit Population by Season

4.4.PO 6: Analyze, using a biological classification system (i.e., cladistics, phylogeny, morphology, DNA analysis), the degree of relatedness among various species.

Dichotomous Keys

4.5: (Including Human Systems) Understand the organization of living systems, and the role of energy within those systems.

4.5.PO 1: Compare the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in terms of energy flow, reactants, and products.

Cell Energy Cycle

4.5.PO 2: Describe the role of organic and inorganic chemicals (e.g., carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, water, ATP) important to living things.

RNA and Protein Synthesis

4.5.PO 3: Diagram the following biogeochemical cycles in an ecosystem:

4.5.PO 3.b: carbon

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle

4.5.PO 4: Diagram the energy flow in an ecosystem through a food chain.

Food Chain

4.5.PO 5: Describe the levels of organization of living things from cells, through tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, and communities to ecosystems.

Circulatory System

5: Physical Science

5.1: Understand physical, chemical, and atomic properties of matter.

5.1.PO 1: Describe substances based on their physical properties.

Density Experiment: Slice and Dice

5.1.PO 3: Predict properties of elements and compounds using trends of the periodic table (e.g., metals, non-metals, bonding – ionic/covalent).

Covalent Bonds
Electron Configuration
Ionic Bonds

5.1.PO 6: Describe the following features and components of the atom:

5.1.PO 6.a: protons

Element Builder

5.1.PO 6.b: neutrons

Element Builder

5.1.PO 6.c: electrons

Element Builder

5.1.PO 6.e: number and type of particles

Electron Configuration
Element Builder

5.1.PO 6.f: structure

Bohr Model of Hydrogen
Bohr Model: Introduction
Element Builder

5.1.PO 6.g: organization

Bohr Model of Hydrogen
Bohr Model: Introduction
Element Builder

5.1.PO 7: Describe the historical development of models of the atom.

Bohr Model of Hydrogen
Bohr Model: Introduction

5.1.PO 8: Explain the details of atomic structure (e.g., electron configuration, energy levels, isotopes).

Electron Configuration
Element Builder

5.2: Analyze relationships between forces and motion.

5.2.PO 2: Analyze the relationships among position, velocity, acceleration, and time:

5.2.PO 2.a: graphically

Distance-Time Graphs - Metric
Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs - Metric
Free-Fall Laboratory

5.2.PO 2.b: mathematically

Feed the Monkey (Projectile Motion)
Free-Fall Laboratory
Golf Range

5.2.PO 3: Explain how Newton’s 1st Law applies to objects at rest or moving at constant velocity.

Fan Cart Physics

5.2.PO 4: Using Newton's 2nd Law of Motion, analyze the relationships among the net force acting on a body, the mass of the body, and the resulting acceleration:

5.2.PO 4.a: graphically

Atwood Machine

5.2.PO 4.b: mathematically

Atwood Machine
Fan Cart Physics

5.2.PO 5: Use Newton’s 3rd Law to explain forces as interactions between bodies (e.g., a table pushing up on a vase that is pushing down on it; an athlete pushing on a basketball as the ball pushes back on her).

Fan Cart Physics

5.2.PO 6: Analyze the two-dimensional motion of objects by using vectors and their components.

Feed the Monkey (Projectile Motion)
Golf Range

5.2.PO 7: Give an example that shows the independence of the horizontal and vertical components of projectile motion.

Feed the Monkey (Projectile Motion)
Golf Range

5.2.PO 8: Analyze the general relationships among force, acceleration, and motion for an object undergoing uniform circular motion.

Uniform Circular Motion

5.2.PO 10: Describe the nature and magnitude of frictional forces.

Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects

5.2.PO 11: Using the Law of Universal Gravitation, predict how the gravitational force will change when the distance between two masses changes or the mass of one of them changes.

Gravitational Force
Pith Ball Lab

5.2.PO 12: Using Coulomb’s Law, predict how the electrical force will change when the distance between two point charges changes or the charge of one of them changes.

Coulomb Force (Static)
Pith Ball Lab

5.3: Understand ways that energy is conserved, stored, and transferred.

5.3.PO 2: Describe various ways in which energy is transferred from one system to another (e.g., mechanical contact, thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation.)

2D Collisions
Herschel Experiment - Metric

5.3.PO 3: Recognize that energy is conserved in a closed system.

Air Track
Energy Conversion in a System
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects

5.3.PO 4: Calculate quantitative relationships associated with the conservation of energy.

Air Track
Inclined Plane - Sliding Objects

5.3.PO 6: Distinguish between heat and temperature.

Calorimetry Lab

5.3.PO 7: Explain how molecular motion is related to temperature and phase changes.

Phase Changes
Temperature and Particle Motion

5.4: Investigate relationships between reactants and products in chemical reactions.

5.4.PO 1: Apply the law of conservation of matter to changes in a system.

Chemical Changes
Chemical Equations

5.4.PO 2: Identify the indicators of chemical change, including formation of a precipitate, evolution of a gas, color change, absorption or release of heat energy.

Chemical Changes

5.4.PO 3: Represent a chemical reaction by using a balanced equation.

Balancing Chemical Equations
Chemical Equations

5.4.PO 4: Distinguish among the types of bonds (i.e., ionic, covalent, metallic, hydrogen bonding).

Covalent Bonds
Ionic Bonds

5.4.PO 6: Solve problems involving such quantities as moles, mass, molecules, volume of a gas, and molarity using the mole concept and Avogadro’s number.

Limiting Reactants
Stoichiometry

5.4.PO 7: Predict the properties (e.g., melting point, boiling point, conductivity) of substances based upon bond type.

Covalent Bonds
Ionic Bonds

5.4.PO 8: Quantify the relationships between reactants and products in chemical reactions (e.g., stoichiometry, equilibrium, energy transfers).

Equilibrium and Pressure
Limiting Reactants
Stoichiometry

5.4.PO 9: Predict the products of a chemical reaction using types of reactions (e.g., synthesis, decomposition, replacement, combustion).

Equilibrium and Concentration

5.4.PO 11: Predict the effect of various factors (e.g., temperature, concentration, pressure, catalyst) on the equilibrium state and on the rates of chemical reaction.

Collision Theory
Equilibrium and Concentration
Equilibrium and Pressure

5.4.PO 12: Compare the nature, behavior, concentration, and strengths of acids and bases.

pH Analysis
pH Analysis: Quad Color Indicator

5.5: Understand the interactions of energy and matter.

5.5.PO 1: Describe various ways in which matter and energy interact (e.g., photosynthesis, phase change).

Cell Energy Cycle
Phase Changes

5.5.PO 2: Describe the following characteristics of waves:

5.5.PO 2.a: wavelength

Ripple Tank

5.5.PO 2.b: frequency

Ripple Tank

5.5.PO 2.c: period

Ripple Tank

5.5.PO 2.d: amplitude

Ripple Tank

5.5.PO 4: Describe the basic assumptions of kinetic molecular theory.

Temperature and Particle Motion

5.5.PO 5: Apply kinetic molecular theory to the behavior of matter (e.g., gas laws).

Temperature and Particle Motion

5.5.PO 6: Analyze calorimetric measurements in simple systems and the energy involved in changes of state.

Phase Changes

6: Earth and Space Science

6.1: Analyze the interactions between the Earth's structures, atmosphere, and geochemical cycles.

6.1.PO 1: Identify ways materials are cycled within the earth system (i.e., carbon cycle, water cycle, rock cycle).

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle

6.1.PO 4: Demonstrate how the hydrosphere links the biosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere.

Carbon Cycle

6.2: Understand the relationships between the Earth's land masses, oceans, and atmosphere.

6.2.PO 1: Describe the flow of energy to and from the Earth.

Seasons Around the World

6.2.PO 5: Demonstrate the relationships among earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges, mid-oceanic ridges, deep sea trenches, and tectonic plates.

Plate Tectonics

6.2.PO 6: Distinguish among seismic S, P, and surface waves.

Earthquakes 1 - Recording Station

6.2.PO 9: Explain the effect of heat transfer on climate and weather.

Coastal Winds and Clouds - Metric

6.2.PO 11: Describe the origin, life cycle, and behavior of weather systems (i.e., air mass, front, high and low systems, pressure gradients).

Weather Maps - Metric

6.2.PO 12: Describe the conditions that cause severe weather (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms).

Hurricane Motion - Metric

6.2.PO 15: List the factors that determine climate (e.g., altitude, latitude, water bodies, precipitation, prevailing winds, topography).

Coastal Winds and Clouds - Metric
Seasons Around the World

6.2.PO 16: Explain the causes and/or effects of climate changes over long periods of time (e.g., glaciation, desertification, solar activity, greenhouse effect).

Greenhouse Effect - Metric

6.2.PO 17: Investigate the effects of acid rain, smoke, volcanic dust, urban development, and greenhouse gases, on climate change over various periods of time.

Greenhouse Effect - Metric
Rabbit Population by Season

6.3: Analyze the factors used to explain the history and evolution of the Earth.

6.3.PO 3: Explain the phases of the Moon, eclipses (lunar and solar), and the interaction of the Sun, Moon, and Earth (tidal effect).

2D Eclipse
3D Eclipse
Phases of the Moon
Tides - Metric

6.3.PO 9: Analyze patterns in the fossil record related to the theory of organic evolution.

Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

6.4: Analyze the factors used to explain the origin and evolution of the universe.

6.4.PO 3: Analyze the evolution of various types of stars using the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram.

H-R Diagram